


Barry Blushes and Splutters. Len Smirks.

by Sara_Darling



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fainting, Hypoglycemia, I Blame Tumblr, Like a teensy bit of pining, M/M, Mick Rory loves Romcoms, Movie Night, The Lisa/Cait is only there is you squint, coffee dates, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6909790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sara_Darling/pseuds/Sara_Darling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry Allen is tired. Len Snart is adorable.</p><p>--<br/>I saw something on Tumblr about Coldflash being friends before dating and then this happened. You're welcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Barry Blushes and Splutters. Len Smirks.

Barry Allen was tired. There was no other way to put it. He had been fighting crime both as the Flash and as Barry Allen, CSI, all day and really all he wanted was a nap. A nice, long nap in his nice, warm bed. Apparently that was too much for him to ask though, because Cisco was calling him within moments of him clocking out at the precinct. There was bank robbery happening. Not just any back robbery, oh no, this was a Rogue’s Heist. Barry wonders if they have that trademarked as he flashes to the bank. Probably. Cold is all about flashy declarations of evil. He skids to a stop in front of the bank and wow he was just kidding but Cold iced a giant snowflake into the front of the building. Captain Cold is standing by the door waiting for him, a half smirk on his face and is it wrong if Barry thinks he’s very attractive wearing his parka and googles? He hopes not.  


“Well, Scarlet, glad you could finally make it,” a car door slamming shut punctuates his words. Barry can see Lisa Snart and Mick Rory driving away in a getaway van out the corner of his eye. He’s seriously too tired for this.  


“Did you seriously trip the alarm just so I could watch your sister and partner drive away with the goods?” and maybe Barry does find that a little amusing. Sue him.  
Cold rolled his eyes, “I couldn’t risk you coming earlier and putting my plans on ice now could I?”  


“I’m starting to think you only plan heist to chat me up?”  


“Ice-ee why you could come to that assumption, but I really just like rubbing my wins in your face,” Leonard Snart is unfairly attractive Barry decides. And seriously his smile should be illegal- Hey wait. Why is he seeing spots? When is the last time he ate? Ah, man. Barry forgot to eat lunch and now it’s almost ten thirty and all he’s had since breakfast was a granola bar and not even one of the calorie packed one Cisco makes. He’s totally about to faint. Barry thinks he either said this out loud or his face is starting to get pale because suddenly Cold looks worried and is stepping towards him. The last thing he sees is Leonard’s blue eyes before the world around him goes dark.  


To say Barry feels like someone whacked him repeatedly with a sack of bricks and then superglued his eyes shut before putting him in the most comfortable bed in the world would be an understatement. Seriously, are these silk sheets? When he finally pry’s his eyes open he’s greeted by silvery-blue walls and the smell of bacon. The events of the previous night rush back to him and he wonders if he’s in Leonard’s home. He brushes that off quickly, however. No villain would be dumb enough to bring a superhero to their home. This is probably one of his many safe houses. Barry rolls out of the bed and catches himself before he ends up on the floor. He’s wearing pajama pants that are a little too short and big around the waist and t-shirt with the Flash symbol on it. He knows for certain he didn’t arrive in this which means Captain Cold changed his clothes and isn’t that just embarrassing. He doesn’t ponder the thought for long, instead opting to follow his nose to the kitchen.  


“Welcome to the land of the living, Scarlet. I made pancakes,” Snart is standing in front of the stove fully dressed. Once the two of them are sitting at the small kitchen table Barry has him explain what happened last night because he really only remembers snippets. “You started to get real pale, kid, and you zoned out. Stopped responding to my clever quips, you were out like a light before I could even reach you,” is Barry imagining things or does Snart look worried. After breakfast Barry changes back into his Flash suit- there’s a little sting when he shoves his right hand into its glove but he chooses not to question it- and makes to leave.  


“Thanks for helping me, Cold,” Barry grins at him.  
Snart rolls his eyes, “Call me Len, kid, I’m off duty.” Barry doesn’t think his smile can get wider. But it does. When he gets to Star Labs and changes into his civilian clothes a piece of paper flutters out of his glove along with his hand and oh it must have been a papercut. A number is written neatly on the paper and underneath are the words ‘It seems I misplaced my number, Scarlet, better put it in your phone to keep it safe. – Len’  


It takes two weeks and Cisco accidently reading a text from Len- who’s in his phone as Jake Frost- while he’s fighting the Meta-of-the-Week (and hey they should trademark that) to realize he’s been texting Captain Cold every day since that fainting spell. Not only have they been texting, but they have inside jokes now. Barry can’t help but laugh every time sees an umbrella stand because on Thursday Len tripped over one and he was all pouty and- oh you would’ve had to have been there. Not that Barry was. No, Len had recounted the story to him over text and stop looking at me like that Cisco it’s not like we’re dating or anything.  


Cisco and Caitlin are staring at him in disbelief when he returns. They barely give him time to change before they pounce on him. “Barry, he kidnapped both of us. He gave my brother frostbite,” Cisco looks stricken and offended. Caitlin is nodding along with him.  


“His partner tried to blow me up,” she tacks on. They are acting like he’s forgotten all the bad things he’s done. Barry hasn’t. In fact, one of the first conversations they had was about that. It was the first and only time they spoke over the phone. Len had explained that he turned the gun to its lowest setting and he knew it wouldn’t cause any lasting damage to Dante. He left a fifteen second gap to give them time save Caitlin. He had no excuses for his previous crimes, just that he’s trying to be better. That doesn’t make the other feel any better, but it’s a start.  


The first time he asks Len to help with a mission after they become friends Caitlin and Cisco have come to accept the friendship but are still pretty against the idea after the incident at Ferris Air. Joe and Iris are completely against it. Of course, Barry hasn’t actually told them about his blossoming friendship with the man. They know he’s been talking to someone because ‘Barry, you’ve been smiling at your phone for the last ten minutes, we grew up together of course I know the signs of when you have a crush.’ Not that he had a crush. That’d be weird.  


After they fight off the meta- with the help of Golden Glider and Heat wave of course, they’re a package deal, Scarlet- they all tumble into the cortex sporting bruises and bleeding wounds. Len and Barry are leaning against each other, laughing off the high of winning the fight. Just like that Captain Cold and his rogues are a fixture of team Flash. Lisa instates a team movie night where they watch bad movies and eat junk food until the wee hours of the morning and they all pass out in the common area of the labs. They find out Len is a closet nerd and Mick loves romcoms. Lisa loves action movies with bland romantic subplots because she likes to make fun of the fighting style and damsel-in-distress scenarios.  


Since Barry destroyed all his files Len can walk around town without worrying about getting arrested. It helps that he is now firmly on the side of the good guys (Lisa and mick still have criminal history’s but no outstanding warrants so they’re good as well). Barry and Len go for coffee a lot. Almost every morning. It started out as an accident. Running into each other on the way to the precinct or Star. Now the barista’s get confused when one walks in without the other and ask “Where’s that boyfriend of yours? I thought you two were joined at the hip?” Barry blushes and splutters. Len smirks.  


A year into their strange friendship Barry realizes he has a massive crush on Len. A crush to rival the one he had on Iris and he’s known her his whole life. It took Len a month to come to the conclusion on his feelings. Neither of them say anything. Len doesn’t believe Barry can ever have feelings for a no good, ne’er do well like him. Barry is just scared of being rejected again. Len starts to pull away when Barry’s flirting gets more straight forward. He refuses to drag his ray of sunshine into the black pit that would be a relationship with him. They fight.  


“Why won’t you just let me in, Len?” “What you think just because I’m on your side now you can melt my cold, little heart?” “I think I’m your friend and I deserve to know why your treating me like crap.” “Ha, we’re hardly friends.” “Then what do you call this last year, Len?”  


Len stormed out. They don’t talk outside of missions for a week. Finally, Lisa and Caitlin- who are a surprisingly frightening team- shove them into a room with instruction to talk and lock the door behind them. When they come back, the two are wrapped around each other. Lisa shrieks something about her innocent eyes and they jerk apart. Barry blushes and splutters. Len smirks.


End file.
